Wheeled attachment for household chairs



June 26, 1962 E. w. LOTT 3,041,081

WHEELED ATTACHMENT FOR HOUSEHOLD CHAIRS Filed March 10, 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 1 June 26, 1962 E. w. LOTT WHEELED ATTACHMENT FOR HOUSEHOLDCHAIRS Filed March 10, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 rates This inventionrelates to attachments for chairs and more particularly to a wheeledattachment for conventional household chairs.

A general object of the invention is to provide a wheeled attachment ofthe type described for conventional household chairs.

A more particular object of the invention is to provide a wheeledattachment for such chairs that is readily applied to such a chair.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wheeled attachment forsuch chairs which is arranged in such a manner that the wheels of theattachment will be withdrawn from contact with the floor when it isdesired to use the chair as conventionally used and which may be loweredonto the floor when it is desired to mobilize the chair for use byinvalids.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the typedescribed which is inexpensive, durable, and which may be fabricatedfrom readily available materials.

More specifically, my invention resides in the arrangement andcombination of parts and in the details of construction described in thespecification and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It isunderstood that while I illustrate the device of my invention as beingattached to rocking chairs, I do not wish to limit myself to thisprecise embodiment of the invention as various changes may be madewithin the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit ofthe invention. I intend no limitations other than those imposed by theclaims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a rocking chair having a wheeledattachment affixed thereto with the wheels of the attachment in alowered position for contacting the floor;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View of the device of FIGURE 1 showingthe wheels in their elevated position;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the wheeled attachment of FIGURE 1;and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the wheeled attachment of FIGURE 2.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, a conventional rock ing chair includes apair of rockers 12 which are connected to a seat 14 in the usual manner.A wheeled assembly 20 may be attached to the chair 10 in the space belowthe seat 14 and between the rockers 12 by means which will behereinafter described.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 4, the wheeled assembly 20 includes a frame22 having side rails 24 and end rails 26. A plurality of castered wheels27 may be attached to the end nails 26.

A pair of brackets 28 may be rigidly atfixed to the side rails 24 by anysuitable means, such as welding, not shown. Each pair of brackets 28 maybe spaced apart as shown.

A pair of rotatable shafts 30 each includes a pair of brackets 3-2 whichhave one end rigidly affixed toits respective shaft 30' in spacedrelation. The space between the brackets 28 on the side rails 24corresponds to the space between the brackets 32 on shafts 30. Eachshaft 30 is linked to a pair of brackets 28 by means of links 34. Eachlink 34 has one end pivotally connected to a bracket 32. While each link34 may take any suitable shape, such as a bar with bifurcated ends, Iemploy a plate 36 on each side of the brackets 28 and 32.

The shafts 30 support the wheeled assembly 20 between Unite atent "ice afront bar 40 and a rear bar 41. The ends of shafts 30 are rotatablymounted in apertures in bars 40 and 41. A pair of brackets 42, which maybe rigidly afiixed to the ends of the bars 40 and 41 or may be anintegral part thereof, are employed to attach each of the bars 40 and 41to the rockers 12 of the chair 10. The wheeled assembly 20 is thensupported between the rockers 12 by means of bolts 43 which pass throughthe rockers and the brackets 42.

The wheeled assembly 20 may be elevated so that the wheels 27 will bedisposed above the rockers 12 when it is desired to use the rockingchain in a conventional manner or the wheeled assembly 20 may be loweredso that the wheels 27 will contact the floor and raise the rockers 12off the floor. While electrical, mechanical or hydraulic means may beused for these operations, I prefer to employ mechanical means for itssimplicity and inexpensiveness. This mechanical means includes a lever44 which may be located in any suitable place with respect to the chair.For example, the lever 44 may be located at the side of the chair 10 ifthe user of the chair is physically able to operate the lever, or it maybe located at the back of the chair, as shown, if the person who pushesthe chair 10 must operate it.

When the lever 44 is located at the back of the chair 10, it may bepivotally attached to the rear bar 41. For this purpose, the rear bar 41carries an upstanding projection 46 having an aperture near its upperend. The lever 44 carries a similar aperture near its lower end. A bolt=48 passes through these apertures to pivotally mount the lever 44 onthe projection 46. The lever 44 is linked to the shafts 30 to rotatethem in such a manner that the frame 22 may be raised and lowered bymeans of the links 34 coacting with brackets 28 and 32. A crank 50 isrigidly affixed to each shaft 30 at the end which passes through rearbar 41. A first lever-link 52 has one end pivotally connected to onecrank 50 and its other end pivotally connected to the lever 44intermediate bolt 48 and the upper end of the lever 44. A secondlever-link 54 has one end pivotally connected to the other crank 50 andits other end pivotally connected to lever 44 intermediate bolt 48 andthe lower end of lever 44.

A guide rod 60 is rigidly affixed across each end rail 26. Each rod 60is sufficiently longer than its respective rail 26 to extend beyond theends of the rails 26. The portions 62 of rods 60 which extend beyond theends of the rails 26 engage guides 64. The guides 64' are cut into anupstanding projection 66 which may be an integral part of a guide bar68. One guide bar 68 is provided subjacent each side rail 24 andincludes apertures 70. The apertures 70 are employed to attach eachguide bar 68 to a rocker 12 by means of bolts 72.

A footrest may be provided as an integral part of the wheeled assembly20. Since the footrest 80 will prevent the occupant of the rocking chair10 from placing his feet on the floor to rock the chair 10, I prefer toslidably mount the footrest 80 on the front bar 40 in such a manner thatthe foot-rest 80 may be slid back under the chair 10, as shown in FIGURE2, when not in use.

It will be seen that the invention provides -a new and useful wheeledattachment for conventional household chairs.

I claim:

In a convertible rocking chair construction including rockers andreciprocably mounted floor-engaging wheels, the improvement comprising,means for reciprocably mounting said wheels inside said rockersincluding a frame having side rails and end rails, said wheels beingrigidly aflixed to and depending from said end rails, brackets mountedon said side rails, a pair of rods rotatably mounted on said rockers,link means connecting said rods to said brackets in such a manner thatsaid frame is supported in a raised condition when said rods are rotatedto a first position and is supported in a lowered condition when saidrods are rotated to a second position, a crank on one end of each rod,said cranks lying in the same horizontal plane in spaced relation, a 5lever pivotally mounted intermediate said cranks, a first lever-linkpivotally connecting one of said cranks to said lever below its pivotpoint, a second lever-link pivotally connecting the other of said cranksto said lever above said pivot point, whereby said frame may be raisedand 10 lowered by said lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,129,429 Skibbe'et a1. Feb. 23, 1915 15 4 Tifiany Aug. 15, 1922 HannaJan. 27, 1942 Billi-nghurst Feb. 13, 1951 Booth Feb. 13, 1951 Not-t0 May22, 1951 Feist Aug. 30, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS France Dec. 5, 1955 GermanySept. 11, 1911

